If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"Ding ding... dong dong..."

The blacksmith's shop was in a corner of the market. You could feel the heat of the furnace as soon as you got close. No wonder blacksmiths on TV always wore shirtless; no one could stand that heat.

"Hello, what would you like to order?"

There were only two people in the blacksmith shop: a middle-aged man and a boy who looked like father and son.

"Hello, I'd like to buy a knife."

Zhou Wu had already thought it through before he came. Although the heroes on TV liked to show off with swords, Zhou Wu wasn't interested in being shady; he felt that a knife was more suitable for a man.

"Do you want a long sword or a short sword, a wide sword or a narrow sword...?"

Zhou Wu was momentarily at a loss, realizing that knives were categorized in such detail. After thinking it over, he decided it was best to buy a ready-made one; it was just a knife, and he didn't want to make a second trip.

Do you have a knife here?

"Yes, sir, we do have knives, but the ones in the shop aren't cheap."

The blacksmith seemed to notice that Zhou Wu was dressed like an ordinary person and sensed that the other party just wanted to buy an ordinary iron knife.

"Oh, let me see."

Upon hearing that it wasn't cheap, Zhou Wu became interested.

"Please wait a moment, guest."

After saying that, the blacksmith turned around and went into the house to get his knife. He came out a few moments later, carrying a package in his arms.

"Please look, sir. This is a horizontal sword made of wrought iron. Normally, we wouldn't use such good material in a small place like ours, but the customer who ordered this sword specifically requested wrought iron, and our shop went to great lengths to get the materials."

When the blacksmith introduced the knife, he couldn't hide the pride in his eyes, as if only this knife could represent his superb craftsmanship.

Zhou Wu was also captivated by the knife; it was indeed distinctly different from the ordinary knives in the corner. However, he suddenly realized there was something fishy about the blacksmith's words.

"You said this knife was ordered, so why is it being sold?"

"Sir, you may not know this, but three months ago a customer came to the shop and specifically asked for a steel scissor to be forged. He paid in full, but at the time, the shop didn't have the materials, so the customer said he would come back in ten days to pick it up. It's been almost three months now, and we haven't heard anything from him, so..."

"So that's it."

Zhou Wu lowered his head, pondering whether or not to buy this fine knife.

"But rest assured, if the previous customer comes, I will either make him a new one or refund his money."

The blacksmith, Zhou Wu, seemed to be concerned about something, and quickly added.

How much is this?

"Two thousand coins."

"What, this knife costs two strings of cash?"

An ordinary iron knife costs only about a hundred coins, but this knife is priced at two thousand coins. Zhou Wu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Look at this, sir. It's made of the finest wrought iron. It can cut through iron like mud. You won't find another one like it in the whole county."

Zhou Wu thought about it for a while and still gritted his teeth and bought it. Actually, he didn't know whether the knife was worth two strings of cash. He bought the knife purely because of the shopkeeper's boasting and because he had a windfall. It's like playing a game. When a whale has money, he just buys whatever he wants, and the cost-effectiveness is not even a consideration.

"Boss, do you sell bows?"

The knife has been bought, but a bow is still needed for hunting.

"Guest, when the time comes, we'll see how many stones of arrows you need."

"How many stones?"

Seeing that Zhou Wu didn't understand at all, the blacksmith didn't explain further and simply took out a bow and let Zhou Wu draw it.

Zhou Wu had no idea how to use a bow, so he could only try to imitate what he saw on TV in his previous life. Surprisingly, even with all his strength, Zhou Wu couldn't draw the bow.

"That's not right, everyone else seems to be doing it so easily."

"Guest, you've never used a bow before, have you? Drawing a bow may seem simple, but it actually requires skill."

As he spoke, the blacksmith easily drew back the bow, his expression unchanged and his heart not skipping a beat.

"Amazing."

"You flatter me, sir. Practice makes perfect. If you've never used a bow before, why don't you take a one-stone bow?"

According to the unit conversion of the Great Dragon Empire, one shi is equivalent to seventy jin, which is quite a challenge for Zhou Wu's current physique. He didn't care about saving face and directly listened to the shopkeeper's suggestion to buy a one-shi bow, along with some bows and arrows, preparing to go back and practice properly.

When Zhou Wu arrived at the agreed location in the afternoon, Old Zhang had been waiting for a long time.

"Good morning, Mr. Zhang."

"Hey, we didn't have much stock to begin with. But you, you've struck it rich?"

The basket on Zhou Wu's back was too obvious, and Zhou Wu was carrying a sword and a bow, which made him look like a completely different person from when he came out. You should know that these things are not cheap.

"I spent all the last of the money I had at home on this outfit."

Zhou Wu certainly wouldn't say that he had found ginseng and become a nouveau riche. He would only make up an excuse that it was left by his family. This excuse was actually easy for people to accept. After all, Zhou Wu's family was originally a fallen official family, so it was normal for them to have some inheritance.

"Not planning to continue taking the imperial examinations? You're going to become a hunter?"

"Yes, if you can't even fill your stomach, how can you take the imperial examinations?"

"Yes, practical, that's good."

Although passing the imperial examinations was something everyone in this era aspired to, it was impractical to be holding a book when you were starving. Old Zhang agreed that Zhou Wu was able to see reality clearly.

What Old Zhang didn't know was that Zhou Wu was no longer the same Zhou Wu as before. Forget about taking the imperial examinations, now Zhou Wu gets a headache just looking at classical Chinese texts and the eight-legged essay.

. . .

"Whoa~~~~~ Scholar Zhou has arrived."

Zhou Wu didn't know when he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw the familiar village again.

"Oh, okay, thank you, Mr. Zhang. Please accept this."

Zhou Wu handed a small bag of rice from his basket to Old Zhang. It weighed a full three jin. Old Zhang didn't know what it was at first, but when he opened it, he found it was white rice and immediately stopped eating.

“No, that won’t do. It’s too valuable. I’ll just give it a ride. If I accept it, how will I ever face anyone in the village again?”

"Mr. Zhang, please accept it. Otherwise, how can I possibly ride in your car next time?"

"No, no, it's just a car ride, you can't do that."

"Alright, Mr. Zhang, that's enough for now."

After pushing and shoving the rice back and forth a few times, Zhou Wu quickly threw the small bag of rice onto Zhang Ye's mule cart and ran home.

"Hehe, this kid."

Left with no other choice, Old Zhang had to accept it, humming a little tune as he happily hurried home.

"Brother Wu, you're finally back."

"Niu Er, what's the matter?"

On my way home, I happened to run into Niu Er, who was returning home from working in the fields.

"Hehe, that's good news, you'll find out when you get home."

Niu Er suddenly looked mysterious, and started making faces as he spoke.

"Is there something wrong with your eyes? Have you seen a doctor?"

Zhou Wu suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. Just imagine, a man like Li Kui or Zhang Fei suddenly standing next to you, winking and posing. Wouldn't that be disgusting?